Pots are commonly used to cook foods in a liquid--usually constituting water. When such cooking is either finished or has reached the end of a cooking stage, it is common to require the cooked contents interior of the pot to be drained of the cooking liquid. This is usually accomplished by one of three expedients.
In a first expedient, the contents of the pot are emptied to colander or strainer. The colander or strainer is a perforated vessel which receives the entire contents--food and cooking liquid--and allows the cooking liquid to be easily drained away. The operation of the use of the colander or strainer is simple--but does require the use of a separate and distinct vessel or other apparatus--the colander or strainer.
In a second expedient, the contents of the pot are poured directly against a lid placed over the pot. Typically, a small gap is preserved between the pot and the lid--and the cooked contents retained in the pot while the cooking liquid drains from the pot. This can be a satisfactory way to effect the separation of the cooked contents from the cooking liquid--but accidents frequently result. The cooking liquid is typically very hot. Steam and other heat makes its way to the top being held to partially plug the pot. Food can escape in the gap between the top and pot. Further, and where the top has an irregular sealing flange for mating to the pot, food can become stuck to the top and remain in the interface between the pot and top when the top is replaced on the pot. In short, straining the cooked contents within a pot from the cooking liquid is not a straightforward process.
In a third expedient, it has been proposed by a number of disclosures to utilize straining apparatus separate and apart from the pot, the separate apparatus being placed over the open mouth of the pot prior to tipping of the pot for drainage. Exemplary of such disclosures is Matthews U.S. Pat. No. 434,452; Marsha U.S. Pat. No. 1,196,570; Partridge U.S. Pat. No. 1,636,240; Blakeman U.S. Pat. No. 1,750,158; Ziemianin, Sr. U.S. Pat. No. 2,466,347; Schoenfeld U.S. Pat. No. 2,511,791; Holmgren U.S. Pat. No. 2,507,159; Conrad et al. U.S. Pat. 2,520,382.